The U.S. Housing Market: Current Conditions and Policy Considerations

The ongoing problems in the U.S. housing market continue to impede the economic recovery.

House prices have fallen an average of about 33 percent from their 2006 peak, resulting in about$7 trillion in household wealth losses and an associated ratcheting down of aggregate consumption. At the same time, an unprecedented number of households have lost, or are on theverge of losing, their homes. The extraordinary problems plaguing the housing market reflect inpart the effect of weak demand due to high unemployment and heightened uncertainty. But theproblems also reflect three key forces originating from within the housing market itself: a persistent excess supply of vacant homes on the market, many of which stem from foreclosures;a marked and potentially long-term downshift in the supply of mortgage credit; and the costs that an often unwieldy and inefficient foreclosure process imposes on homeowners, lenders, and communities.